I grew up in the midwest and have lived the last 5 years in Texas, BBQ here sucks, it's way to dry. I would rather eat BBQ from one of the coasts where they soak it in BBQ sauce because they dont know how to cook it rather than eat Texas BBQ.

JackieRabbit:It the restaurant sells their sauce in commercial packaging, they forgot how to make BBQ long ago. Find someplace else.

People who make sweeping judgments based on one criterion, well, insert hypocritical comment here. Clearly you haven't eaten at Rudy's, nor purchased their sauce, which is my favorite (as a 3500-4000 calorie/day eater, I have a lot of experience eating)

Gdalescrboz:I grew up in the midwest and have lived the last 5 years in Texas, BBQ here sucks, it's way to dry. I would rather eat BBQ from one of the coasts where they soak it in BBQ sauce because they dont know how to cook it rather than eat Texas BBQ.

BTing:detroitdoesntsuckthatbad: No NC BBQ? Talk about a poorly reasoned list.

You disspoint me.

Slows

Meh - it's overpriced and a shadow of the quality from when it first opened. The only reason it's even talked about is the vacuum of other quality food in downtown Detroit. In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

JackieRabbit:There's fantastic BBQ to be had in every state from Virginia to Texas. The best places are dives. It the restaurant sells their sauce in commercial packaging, they forgot how to make BBQ long ago. Find someplace else.

If your "barbeque" consists of lots of sauce, then you have no idea what you're doing with meat. You just like sauce. In my travels I'd definitely say that the place that you're most likely to get barbeque that tastes great without having to slather it with sauce is certainly Texas.

JackieRabbit:TheraTx: Thankfully no one has thrown up Sonny's or Slopes

we'll it has been thrown up but not as good nor in this thread.

I just threw up a little in the back of my throat. That crap ain't BBQ. Hell, sonny's stoops to using Liquid Smoke these days. Ate (tried to) there once about 10 years ago. It was vile. Never been back.

My sister married a yankee. His parents live down here now, and in an effort bond, the MiL asked my sister to lunch. "I want to take you to a great BBQ place I found", knowing my sis would appreciate it. "Cool" sis thought, maybe she found a gem.

It was all she could do not to scream "nooooooo!" when MiL made the turn into the Sonny's parking lot.

waterrockets:JackieRabbit:It the restaurant sells their sauce in commercial packaging, they forgot how to make BBQ long ago. Find someplace else.

People who make sweeping judgments based on one criterion, well, insert hypocritical comment here. Clearly you haven't eaten at Rudy's, nor purchased their sauce, which is my favorite (as a 3500-4000 calorie/day eater, I have a lot of experience eating)

Think what you will, my friend. I've watch at least a dozen very good restaurants go commercial and start selling their sauce, which they have mass-produced somewhere. At first it's just sold at the counter; then it starts showing up in local supermarkets. Finally it can be had almost everywhere. In the meantime, the restaurant's BBQ goes to hell in a handbag. Some of their customers think the BBQ is still fantastic, while everyone else thinks "what happened to this place!?!?" Real BBQ joints don't market their sauce. It's usually a well guarded secret.

And no, I have not eaten at Rudy's since I don't live in Texas. But I just looked it up. It's a chain. I don't eat at chain BBQ joints. Nor do I care about the preferences of a 3000-4000 kcal/day eater, since quantify is obviously more important than quality.

JackieRabbit:And no, I have not eaten at Rudy's since I don't live in Texas. But I just looked it up. It's a chain. I don't eat at chain BBQ joints. Nor do I care about the preferences of a 3000-4000 kcal/day eater, since quantify is obviously more important than quality.

Rudy's is decent, but it can be hit-or-miss. It didn't start as a chain, but has sort of grown in to one. I agree that once you chain out, quality will suffer. BBQ is an art form which requires patience and dedication.. once you start slacking, it all goes down hill.

PallMall:JackieRabbit: And no, I have not eaten at Rudy's since I don't live in Texas. But I just looked it up. It's a chain. I don't eat at chain BBQ joints. Nor do I care about the preferences of a 3000-4000 kcal/day eater, since quantify is obviously more important than quality.

Rudy's is decent, but it can be hit-or-miss. It didn't start as a chain, but has sort of grown in to one. I agree that once you chain out, quality will suffer. BBQ is an art form which requires patience and dedication.. once you start slacking, it all goes down hill.

It's the patience thing that kills chains. Slow-cooking meat is an art that doesn't really conform to a clock at times. Do you think the pig needs another hour on the coals? Well, if you are cooking in your yard, just open another beer and relax. If you have to make a delivery to several restaurants by lunch time, too bad - take that meat all the grill and ship it out.

I occasionally help out a guy who still cooks with wood (whenever I clear land and cut down a hickory, I give it to him). If the fire decides to be slow to catch, and slow to "go to coal" one morning, you just have to sit and wait. He keeps a couple pounds in the fridge for people who eat lunch early, but it's sometimes a struggle to have fresh 'cue ready by lunchtime.

killdawabbitt:If you HAVE to eat chain BBQ in Houston, try Goode company on Kirby and Bissonett

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Goode Co. is MEDIOCRE at best. You could save money and time and just go to any of the Pappas BBQ locations (many with Drive-Thrus) and get similar quality.

Goode Co. is just another themed chain like Landry's, Pappas, or any of the other similar offerings in and around Houston. That obnoxious, mirrored, armadillo with Longhorns across the street is a testament to that.

I agree on the Sam's Club bit, and I don't care much for the Jack Daniel's one (not when they license their name to that sickly sweet crap they serve at Appleby's or Chili's or whichever chain they are passing that off as BBQ), but I saw the American Royal Invitational on that list. That, folks, is the World Series/Superbowl/World Cup of barbecue right there. So, I'd probably give it a shot (though I have seen some turn in award winning BBQ there, only to turn around and sell easier to cook substandard crap at their restaurant, so it's still not a guarantee.)

Bag of Hammers:Yes, Texas being actual BBQ and KC being vinegar based salad dressing.

You are either an incredibly bad troll, or someone handed you a bottle of KC Masterpiece and that's the end all of your KC BBQ experience. Here's a hint - KC Masterpiece is below standard crap, begun by a PR Savvy rich guy from Johnson County who doesn't know a thing about good BBQ, who managed to sell his "sauce" recipe for a small fortune to the same people who make Clorox Bleach.

KC Style is as much about the smoking as the sauce - a lot of pitmasters guard the types and mix of wood they use as or more fiercely as they guard their sauce and rub recipes. That said, the sauce is mostly tomato and molasses base, with one notable exception. A lot use vinegar to some degree, but never so much that it's the stand out flavor.

You want to talk about vinegary sauce, you go to the Carolinas for that.

Pro-Tip - you can always order KC Barbecue "dry", and it will still be one of the tastiest meals you've had.

To be fair though, it is ACROSS the street, although Goode owns that bar as well. And the tacqueria on the other corner. And the Seafood place around that corner. Actually, I think that dude owns the whole block. But I think the BBQ (and tacos) are good. I found it much better than the Pappas joints. I won't speak for any of the other locations. I used to live right next to the taqueria. SOOO GOOD. The tacos with the 1/4 avocado in them.... yummy.....

It's funny to hear all the Southerners in here talking about the 'best' barbecue coming from down there. But really, when have Southerners been the best at anything?

I mean, look at cornbread. All the stuff in the south may have been pretty good back when you were cooking with cast iron on a wood stove (some people down there probably still are...) but harder-working, more careful artisans in places like SF and NYC are really taking things to the next level. It's the same with barbecue. What your grampa taught you isn't going to cut it anymore, not with the food knowledge and passion behind the better cooks in CA and NY, not to mention general technological know-how and more advanced techniques. Plus,the crowd is actually *interesting*, and the music is better.

thaduke:It's funny to hear all the Southerners in here talking about the 'best' barbecue coming from down there. But really, when have Southerners been the best at anything?

I mean, look at cornbread. All the stuff in the south may have been pretty good back when you were cooking with cast iron on a wood stove (some people down there probably still are...) but harder-working, more careful artisans in places like SF and NYC are really taking things to the next level. It's the same with barbecue. What your grampa taught you isn't going to cut it anymore, not with the food knowledge and passion behind the better cooks in CA and NY, not to mention general technological know-how and more advanced techniques. Plus,the crowd is actually *interesting*, and the music is better.

NYC for BBQ all the way.

That could be the douchiest, most "coastal elitest" thing I've ever read. In fact, it's so trolly: 9/10.

killdawabbitt:To be fair though, it is ACROSS the street, although Goode owns that bar as well. And the tacqueria on the other corner. And the Seafood place around that corner. Actually, I think that dude owns the whole block. But I think the BBQ (and tacos) are good. I found it much better than the Pappas joints. I won't speak for any of the other locations. I used to live right next to the taqueria. SOOO GOOD. The tacos with the 1/4 avocado in them.... yummy.....

It's still a Goode Co. establishment, and it's positioned there to stare at you while you're at the BBQ joint. Plenty of better places for BBQ.

Edward Rooney Dean of Students:thaduke: It's funny to hear all the Southerners in here talking about the 'best' barbecue coming from down there. But really, when have Southerners been the best at anything?

I mean, look at cornbread. All the stuff in the south may have been pretty good back when you were cooking with cast iron on a wood stove (some people down there probably still are...) but harder-working, more careful artisans in places like SF and NYC are really taking things to the next level. It's the same with barbecue. What your grampa taught you isn't going to cut it anymore, not with the food knowledge and passion behind the better cooks in CA and NY, not to mention general technological know-how and more advanced techniques. Plus,the crowd is actually *interesting*, and the music is better.

NYC for BBQ all the way.

That could be the douchiest, most "coastal elitest" thing I've ever read. In fact, it's so trolly: 9/10.

InternetSecurityGuard:I have no idea who the owners of Meshack's over in Garland have fellated to garner so much love. I went by there and tried it. According to my binary rating system, it doesn't suck. My favorite around here is Mac's Barbecue on Main Street in Dallas.

I live in Abilene, & my Mom went to high school in Lockhart with the founder of Black's, so I'm biased. When I ride my bicycle on the neighborhood side streets around Abilene on the weekends, you are always smelling some form form of animal smoking.